The TorMentor Program
by la z boy
Summary: Who is the new First Year named Kendra Banks?  And why exactly is she so determined to make Hermione's life a living hell after they've been paired together for the new Mentor Program at Hogwarts?  R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a fun, interesting idea that I just had to write after I figured out where it would lead. This will be a mix of slapstick/prank humor and mystery; personally, I think it's an interesting combination, and I hope you think so as well.**

**So, here we go!**

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**CHAPTER ONE**

Hermione didn't know it yet, but she would soon regret two things.

The first was ever agreeing to be a part of the newly implemented Mentor Program at Hogwarts. Just a week before today, September 1st, Professor McGonagall had shown up unannounced at The Burrow, where Hermione normally spent her summer holidays, with two items. Those items were the Head Girl badge for the year (much to Hermione's delight) and a piece of parchment for Hermione to sign.

The parchment detailed The Mentor Program, something new Hogwarts would be trying out beginning this year. Basically, The Mentor Program would team a First Year with a Seventh Year who had proven themselves to be responsible students. Throughout the academic year, the designated Seventh Years would do their best to help their assigned First Years get comfortable in their new environment by helping them learn all they needed to know to survive their subsequent academic years. The school governors figured that having students being taught some of the basics by other students would help First Years become naturally experienced with magic better than being taught solely by teachers. The Mentor Program would also serve as extra credit to the Seventh Years who signed up for it.

That last little tidbit prompted Hermione to perk up, confirm herself as a Mentor and say, "I'd be delighted, Professor!" Those four words would be the start of the downward spiral of events for Hermione this year.

The second thing Hermione would find herself regretting was stopping in her tracks during her patrol of the Hogwarts Express hallway to investigate the source of yelling coming from the other side of the compartment door on her right. Straightening her school robes, Hermione pushed aside the compartment door.

Inside the compartment sat two girls, one of whom Hermione immediately recognized. The girl in question was Lavender Brown, and she was currently leering over a First Year girl. At least, Hermione assumed she was a First Year because she couldn't recall ever seeing her at Hogwarts before. The young girl had dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail and her face had all the required features of 'adorable'. Her eyes were brown just like her hair, and her slightly round face made her cheeks perfect for pinching. Curiously, though, she was looking at Lavender with a calm, almost amused expression, despite Lavender screeching at her.

"IF YOU DON'T STOP ACTING LIKE A LITTLE BRAT, I SWEAR I'LL-"

"Lavender!"

Lavender abruptly straightened up and turned toward Hermione, the sneer on her face becoming a surprised expression momentarily. But it soon became one of relief.

"Ah, Hermione," said Lavender in a more restrained voice. "At last, a Prefect. I'd like to ask that you find this little _thing_ a new compartment."

"Why?"

"Because she keeps pestering me! Look" She gestured wildly at the seat opposite the First Year's, which was littered with pieces of candy and cookies. "She's been throwing all this food at me!"

By now, Hermione had fully stepped inside the compartment. "All right, I have to ask something first. Did you do anything to provoke her?"

"No!" answered Lavender sharply. "I was just sitting here minding my own business, and then after the trolley stops by and she gets a few snacks, she starts chucking everything at me. Even pumpkin juice!" Lavender pointed at a large stain on the front of her light blue blouse.

Hermione looked over at the sweets scattered about Lavender's seat. As she did, Hermione didn't notice the First Year size her up with intent eyes. Lavender did, though, however she didn't say anything.

"Why aren't you sitting with your friends, Lavender?" asked Hermione.

"The compartment they were in was full, so I had to come here."

Hermione looked from Lavender to the First Year, each of whom were staring defiantly at one another. She could just feel the resentment radiating off of them.

"Okay," said Hermione, "here's what's going to happen. Lavender, you're going to go back to your friends' compartment. And since she doesn't have anyone else in here, I'll stay with her for the rest of the trip."

The First Year smiled.

"Hermione, with all due respect, I don't think _anybody _should be alone with this girl. She may not look it, but she's really a little terror."

"Maybe you just never gave her a chance, Lavender. Or maybe you just rubbed her the wrong way." Hermione got a little closer to Lavender, almost confrontationally. "It wouldn't be the first time that's happened with you."

Lavender glared daggers back at Hermione. Evidently, their little spat over Ron the previous year left some unresolved animosity between them. Lavender's eyes then fluttered briefly down to the Head Girl badge pinned on Hermione's robes.

"Fine," she said. "Suit yourself."

Shooting one last nasty look at the First Year girl, Lavender exited the compartment and shut the door behind her.

Now alone with the girl, Hermione went over to the seat Lavender had occupied earlier, brushed away the food and sat down. Hermione faced the girl and gave her a sweet smile.

"Hi! My name is Hermione Granger, what's yours?"

"Kendra. Kendra Banks." Kendra gave Hermione a smile of her own while fidgeting her hands nervously in her lap.

"Don't worry, you don't have anything to be nervous about."

"Except surviving my first year at Hogwarts."

"Oh, everybody has those fears. I did too, actually, when I first came to Hogwarts. But do you want to know the secret to making friends really fast?"

"Sure!" Kendra straightened up in her seat and her face lit up expectantly.

"Just be yourself. There's bound to be other students who share similar interests." Hermione paused to look momentarily out the window to observe the passing sun-drenched landscape. Judging by the scenery, they were nearly at Hogwarts. "So, Kendra, what _are _your interests?"

Kendra shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I like to read, mostly."

This got Hermione's attention. "Really? Just any kinds of books or do you have more specific tastes?"

"Yeah, I like all sorts of books. I mean, I do like to play games and spend times with friends, too, but I just love to read. Books just have a funny way of making me feel at home."

"Interesting. You know, you sound a lot like me."

Kendra's eyes narrowed in fascination. "I do?"

"Oh, yes. When I was your age, I spent more time reading than playing. So again, I say to you, don't obsess too much over worrying that you won't fit in with the popular crowd. There are plenty of other groups of people at Hogwarts, so you're bound to make friends, take it from me. And if you ever need any help, I'll look out for you because I'm Head Girl."

"Thanks!" Kendra squealed. "You're very nice, Hermione, just like everyone says."

Hermione arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh, I mean, since you're friends with Harry Potter, you've become pretty famous."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "Oh. Well, I hope everything you've heard about me is _good._"

Kendra laughed. "Don't worry. From what I've heard, you stay loyal to the things and people you believe in."

For most of the remaining journey, Hermione and Kendra really seemed to hit it off. It didn't take long for Hermione to take a liking to Kendra. She was a sweet little girl with many positive qualities, which made her very easy to get along with. Eventually, they were close enough to Hogwarts that Hermione had to step out and leave Kendra to change into her robes while Hermione went to prepare to shepherd the other First Years off of the train.

Things turned out to go very well for Kendra that night. Much to her delight, she had been Sorted into Gryffindor, and once the Sorting Hat had been removed from her head, she eagerly took a seat beside Hermione at the Gryffindor table. After that, Professor Dumbledore stood up and made his usual start-of-term announcements, as well as formally announcing The Mentor Program.

As expected, Hermione had been made the Gryffindor Mentor. All of her House mates applauded her, but Harry and Ron, who were sitting across from her and Kendra, were the loudest and most enthusiastic.

"Well done!" they both proclaimed at the same time.

But it was the next announcement that made not only Hermione, but Kendra as well, even happier.

"And now onto the Mentees that each Member will be responsible for," said Dumbledore, his voice echoing inside the warmly lit Great Hall. "Each First Year was asked to fill out a request form if they wished to be part of the program, and each Mentee was randomly chosen. First, the Gryffindor Mentee." Dumbledore consulted a small piece of parchment he had in his hand. "And the Mentee for Miss Hermione Granger will be…Kendra Banks!"

Kendra swiveled around delightedly. "Yay!" She quickly hugged Hermione, something Hermione wasn't expecting, but she returned the gesture just the same as Dumbledore read off the other Mentees. She obviously couldn't see the deviously satisfied smile Kendra quickly took on as she faced away from her fellow Gryffindors.

"Now, as part of The Mentor Program," Dumbledore continued, "each Mentor and their Mentee will share a private bedroom, so that they may get to know each other better. It will be up to each Mentor to make sure their Mentee stays out of trouble and abides by school rules at all times." Dumbledore paused to survey the sea of students out before him. "But enough of that for tonight. A splendid feast has been prepared for us, and let's not keep our stomachs grumbling. Tuck in!"

Dumbledore took his seat and all of the empty plates on the House Tables suddenly became full. The students immediately started loading their plates.

Throughout the meal, Harry and Ron got to know Kendra better, and by the time dessert was finished, they had become taken with the young girl, much like Hermione already had. Kendra just seemed to have a likable quality about her.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore had stood back up and had run through his usual last-minute start of term notices.

"Now," he concluded, "it's getting quite late and all of you need to be well-rested for classes tomorrow. Off to bed."

With that, all of the students got up from the seats and began to filter out of the Great Hall.

"This is _so _great!" squealed Kendra. "We hit it off on the train, and now we can officially be friends!"

"Yeah," said Hermione. "It really is a happy coincidence, isn't it?"

"You seem like a good person, Hermione. I can't wait to get started on this Mentor stuff. You know, I signed up for it because I thought it'd be a good chance to get to know people and get a headstart on everything I need to know for school, and…"

As Kendra babbled on, Hermione couldn't help but notice how much Kendra sounded like Hermione herself. Apparently, Hermione wasn't the only one to notice this, because she saw Harry and Ron observing this exchange with knowing smirks on their faces.

"Looks like you've made a new friend, Hermione," commented Harry as they all exited the Great Hall and began to climb the Grand Staircase to the upper levels of the castle.

"Never would've thought I would," Hermione replied.

Actually, Hermione would soon discover that her statement would soon turn to _wish_ instead of _thought_.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's Chapter 2. Oh and, by the way, if you haven't seen Deathly Hallows Part 1 yet...SEE IT! It's fantastic!**

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**CHAPTER TWO**

As it turned out, Hermione and Kendra would be sharing a private dorm as part of The Mentor Program for the duration of the school year. This surprised Hermione at first, who had been anticipating inhabiting the Heads' Dorms, but she soon decided that if it would benefit both her and Kendra in the end, then she could deal with it.

This private dorm was located to the left of the staircase that led to the regular dorms, and its door was concealed as part of the wall. The dorm itself wasn't very spacious, but it was still big enough for two people to live comfortably in. All told, it was fifteen steps from one end of the room to the other, with two single beds situated against each far wall. A pair of desks sat between them in front of a window that provided a glorious view of the Hogwarts grounds, including part of the lake. Continuing the pattern of twos, a pair of dressers was positioned against the left wall when one were to walk in, and a nice-looking red and gold rug covered the majority of the floor in the middle of all this.

Past the dressers and almost right on the intersection of walls on the furthest corner of the room was a doorway which led into a private bathroom, complete with a toilet, sink, mirror and shower. It seemed like all the essentials for a manageable living arrangement had been taken care of. But then again, Hermione wasn't surprised to find such convenience at Hogwarts. Even after seven years, there were things there that still surprised the average student.

Still full from the Feast, Hermione and Kendra didn't spend too much time chatting as they prepared themselves for bed. Once Hermione had changed into her pajamas and turned off the bathroom light, she found Kendra standing on her own bed, pushing what looked to be a large trunk underneath it.

"Are those some of your things from home?" Hermione asked curiously as she pulled back her bedsheets.

Kendra whipped around as if she had just been caught doing something bad, but her face was calm and collective. "Oh, uh, yes. It's just some…personal things to help me feel not so bad about being so far from home." She climbed into bed.

"Yeah, but I promise that by this time tomorrow, you'll feel right at home inside this castle."

Kendra pulled the covers up over her and gave Hermione a smile. "Can't wait!"

She snuggled deeper underneath the covers as Hermione flicked her wand and extinguished all of the lights. Hermione then placed her wand on her bedside desk.

Before Hermione fell asleep, she had to admit to herself that she really was looking forward to her first day of being a Mentor to Kendra. And across the room, Kendra was eagerly anticipating her time with Hermione as well…but for entirely different reasons.

"Wicked!" exclaimed Ron happily as he read over his new schedule at the Gryffindor table the next morning during breakfast. The Great Hall was flooded with brilliant sunlight that bounced off all the silverware and bathed the interior in an inviting glow. "This is the second year I don't have to put up with Snape and his bloody Potions class! It feels good to be liberated!"

"Good riddance!" Harry agreed as he examined his own schedule, which was free of his least favorite class.

"Well, _I'm _still taking it," said Hermione as she sipped some orange juice. Just like last night, she and Kendra were sitting on one side of the table while Harry and Ron occupied the space opposite them.

"Of course you are!" replied Ron in an unsurprised tone. "_You _were one of the few people who actually _wanted _to stick around after the O.W.L.'s."

"It's an important class to have in your education when applying for a job," Hermione fired back.

"But worth two more years of Snape's lip? I don't think so."

Hermione rolled her eyes and made an annoyed sound before going back to her breakfast. Kendra and Harry shared a look.

"Do they always do this?"

Harry grinned. "Oh, yeah. So you better get used to it, Kendra."

Hermione, meanwhile, had resumed perusing her schedule. "Um, Kendra, mind if I take a look at your schedule for a minute?"

"Go ahead." Kendra passed Hermione the item in question.

Hermione held the two pieces of parchment up beside each other so she could adequately compare them. As Hermione had suspected after her latest review of her schedule, she and Kendra shared a class with each other at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The name of said class was simply 'Mentor Session'. Hermione noticed that there was no designated classroom for it, so she assumed it must be in a private place, like their dorms.

Kendra was looking over Hermione's shoulder. "So we're going to have actual lessons together?"

Hermione glanced up from the schedules and saw Professor McGonagall coming towards them, her emerald green robes and large, pointed witches' hat prominent and instantly visible among the collection of students.

"Professor," Hermione said when McGonagall was close enough, "what does our schedule mean when it says 'Mentor Session'?"

"It simply means that you and your mentee will use that time alone, at a place of your choosing, to get started on covering the basics that you need to impart, Miss Granger," answered McGonagall. "It's much like a private study session."

"Oh," Hermione responded. "All right, then. Thank you, Professor."

McGonagall nodded courteously and proceeded on her way down the Gryffindor table, passing out schedules to those students who had not received them yet.

"I hope you're not too strict a teacher," Kendra smiled.

"Don't worry," Hermione grinned back. "We'll go at a pace you're comfortable with."

Just then, Hermione felt someone roughly tap her on the back. She turned around to see Lavender standing there, looking like it was a burden to be doing so. Lavender was staring at Hermione with quite a bit of annoyance, and Hermione returned the expression.

"Can we help you with something, Lavender?" Hermione's voice carried just a tinge of venomous defiance.

"No," said Lavender, the polite tone in her voice sounding strange. "It's more like how I can help _you_." She diverted her gaze to Kendra, who was giving Lavender a cold look of her own. "What I said to you on the train yesterday about your new friend, Hermione…that still applies to you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Lavender, I think something may be wrong with your head."

"Maybe it has to do with her hair, which looks like it was done by chimpanzees," retorted Kendra. "I think that horrid haircut is affecting her brain."

She and Hermione laughed heartily at the joke while Harry and Ron sniggered into their fists. Lavender, meanwhile, was giving them all nasty looks.

"I mean it," Lavender pressed on. "She may appear to be cute and cuddly, but I spent enough time with her yesterday to know how deceptive she is. It might not be long before she's giving you the same treatment she did me."

Hermione cleared her throat. "Again, might I suggest, _Lav, _that Kendra acted that way because you somehow provoked her into it?"

"I didn't do _anything_!" Lavender snapped as she took a leering step forward. A few Gryffindors close by turned their heads in curiosity at the sudden outburst. Seeing the surprised faces, Lavender looked down at her feet, breathing deeply while composing herself. When she glanced back up, she was calm once more. "Fine. If you want to be that way, go right ahead. But don't say I didn't warn you. Because when this little brat starts torturing you, I'll enjoy watching you squirm for your mistake."

With that, Lavender walked haughtily away, never looking back at Hermione. Hermione watched until Lavender had taken a seat near the other end of the Gryffindor table, and then she and Kendra both swiveled back around.

"Is it me," Ron asked surreptitiously, casting a glance down at Lavender, "or has Lavender become even _more _mental since last year?"

"You should know," answered Harry. "After all, _you _dated her."

"Yeah, rub _that _in my face, why don't you?" muttered Ron as he refocused on his eggs and toast.

A few minutes passed and Hermione must've got caught up in conversation, because she abruptly checked her watch and gasped. "Oh, Merlin! We have to go, or we'll be late for class!" The trio, along with Kendra, collected their stuff, got up and headed for the doors.

They were nearly out of the Great Hall when Hermione was literally shocked by a brief burst of electricity on her butt. Hermione yelped and jumped into the air slightly before whirling around and searching for the source.

"Quite _shocking_, eh, Granger?" Pansy Parkinson asked from the Slytherin table, her voice brimming with snark and her wand held out in front of her. All of the Slytherins around her, including Draco Malfoy, laughed rather loudly.

"Ten points from Slytherin!" snapped Hermione. "What are you thinking, attacking the Head Girl, Pansy?"

Pansy shrugged, her pug face scrunched up into a smile. "I was just following the instructions."

"What instructions?" demanded Hermione.

"These," said Harry. Hermione felt him remove something from her back, which she discovered to be a piece of paper. On it were two big, bolded words along with a large arrow pointing down. The words above the arrow read 'Zap Me', and the arrow was pointing where Hermione's butt would've been while the sign was stuck to her back.

Ron took the paper from Harry and regarded it with a mixture of surprise and amusement. In turn, Kendra grabbed it.

"Next time you use magic outside of class," Hermione told Pansy sternly, "it'll be detention for you!"

Pansy went back to conversing with her fellow House mates as a thought came into Hermione's head. She looked down the length of the Gryffindor table where Lavender sat and saw that the expression she was giving Hermione was one that seemed to say, "See?" Lavender turned back to her plate of French toast with a smile like the Cheshire Cat's.

Out of curiosity, Hermione glanced down at Kendra, who was eyeing the paper with confusion. The expression seemed genuine enough that the possibility that Kendra could have done it was shifted aside in Hermione's mind.

Kendra handed Hermione the paper. She too, was glaring at Lavender. "She must've stuck it on you when she first walked up. Loser."

Hermione took the paper, balled it up, and stuffed it into the pocket of her robes. "Just forget it. Come on, we're going to be late for class."

The four of them exited the Great Hall and started making their way towards their first class of the day. Kendra soon departed the Trio's company to head for her First Year class.

But little did Hermione know that it _had _been Kendra who put the sign on Hermione's back in the Great Hall when nobody else had been looking.

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Kendra arrived just on time to her first class of the day, which was Transfiguration. Although, there were barely any seats left but fortunately, she managed to find an empty one at a table currently occupied by two girls. Kendra made a beeline for the desk, which was at the front, and placed her bag down on the table as she sat.

The two girls regarded their new tablemate once Kendra got situated. The first one, a girl with dirty blonde hair tied into a ponytail and brown eyes, smiled.

"Hi!" she greeted warmly. "My name is Katie. And this is Tara." Katie indicated the girl on her right, who smiled sweetly at the introduction. Tara had a slightly rounded face framed by black hair that fell to her shoulders. Her eye color was blue. Tara also nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"I'm Kendra."

"I've heard this class is supposed to be pretty hard," said Katie as she flipped through her Transfiguration textbook.

"Well, I did some early studying before school started," replied Kendra as she pulled out her own textbook. "It seems simple enough."

"Okay, well, let's decide on this," piped up Tara as Professor McGonagall entered the classroom. "No matter how hard things may get in this class, we'll help each other figure it out. We can be study partners, and if that goes well, we might become friends!"

Kendra perked up at the idea of making new friends so fast. "That sounds great!"

The chatter of the students died down and McGonagall called, "Attention, please!"

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As it so happened, Kendra hit it off pretty well with Katie and Tara during Transfiguration class, and the three girls had agreed to get together later that night to do homework.

It was just before lunch, when Kendra was walking the corridors towards the Great Hall all by herself, when she heard an urgent whisper come from a nearby classroom.

"_Psst! Psst!"_

The noise was coming from her right, and Kendra turned to find a door to an empty classroom ajar. Kendra looked up and down the hall; the other students were heading off in different directions, and apparently nobody else had heard it.

Uncertainly, Kendra hugged her books close to her chest and stepped into the classroom. She found Lavender inside, casually sitting on a desk.

"I'm not going to yell at you, or anything," Lavender said hurriedly. "I just want to talk."

Kendra narrowed her eyes. "About what?"

Lavender slipped off the desk and went to close the door. "A way in which we can help each other out."

"How?"

"Look, we obviously don't like each other. That's okay, I'm fine with it. But it seems we share a common _dis_like. Hermione."

Kendra straightened up just a bit. "Why do you think I don't like Hermione?"

Lavender smirked knowingly. "I've seen little kids like you before. Your sweetness and polite attitude are just a ruse. And you turn your charm up especially high around the people you _really _don't like." Lavender stared unblinkingly into Kendra's eyes, and within the course of ten seconds, Kendra's look of confusion changed into one of being caught in the act, but satisfied with it just the same.

"You caught me," Kendra replied simply. It was true; she had been acting extra nice towards Hermione because Kendra had chosen Hermione to torment during the school year. The niceness was just to throw Hermione off.

"Why don't you like Hermione?" asked Lavender.

Kendra skirted the question. "It's private. Why don't _you _like Hermione?"

"She stole my boyfriend Ron Weasley last year," Lavender answered bitterly. "Now I want her to pay. So what I'm proposing is a sort of deal. We both want Hermione to be miserable this year, so why don't we team up and make that happen together?"

Kendra considered the offer briefly. "Well, I suppose two heads are better than one. And as long as we don't grow to like each other too much, I guess us working together against Hermione wouldn't be that bad."

Lavender smiled triumphantly and nodded. "Excellent! So what kind of stuff did you have in mind?"

"Pranks," Kendra replied instantly. "The really good and humiliating sort."

"I like the sound of that."

Kendra glanced at her watch. "In fact, I've got some time before lunch. We can start coming up with ideas now."

"Sounds great. Oh, and by the way, nice touch with that sign this morning."

"Thanks."

And with that, Kendra and Lavender went about devising pranks to pull on Hermione. In truth, Kendra had started planning this campaign against Hermione before she even boarded the Hogwarts Express yesterday. Kendra's reasons for doing so were to remain secret, but one thing was for certain.

Hermione was going down.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Kendra peeked out from around one of the many statues adorning Hogwarts' halls to make sure nobody would come across her little meeting with Lavender. Much to her delight, Kendra saw that the firelight-flooded hall was practically devoid of any wanderers. She whirled back around to face Lavender; both of them had been able to squeeze in between the large statue of a famous wizard Kendra couldn't remember the name of and the stone wall. All she could recall about it was that it was a statue of Someone the Something-or-Other who had accomplished a pivotal deed in magical history that had earned him such an accolade. If all went according to plan, Kendra thought to herself, then she might get her own award of some kind for pulling more pranks on a single student than the Weasley twins combined.

"Well?" she asked Lavender rather eagerly.

Lavender shoved a bulging sack, which looked like one Santa Claus would use, out in front of her and undid the strings that held it shut. "It took quite a bit of flirting and flaunting, but I was able to get everything we needed from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

Before Kendra allowed herself to rummage through the sack, she shot Lavender a doubtful look. "You're able to flirt in a letter?"

Lavender crossed her arms haughtily. "Hey, it _wasn't _easy. And besides, I had to pretend to be someone else because obviously, they'd remember me being Ron's ex-girlfriend. Even though it took a week, I'd say it's worth the wait, wouldn't you?" Indeed, it was now Friday evening, September 5th…the end of the first week of term.

"What did you tell them?" asked Kendra, who had started to go through the items in the sack.

"I told them that I'd been an admirer of their work for some time now, and that a fellow classmate had begun to pester me, so I said I needed their help." Lavender looked pleased with herself. "You know, Kendra, I could teach you a thing or two about getting boys' attention."

"Not interested," Kendra replied dismissively. Inside the sack, she found everything she was searching for. From a specially-made Weasley Wet Whoopee Cushion, to Wiz Glue, to some buckets of slime and other assorted tools of prankish torment, Kendra and Lavender were now equipped to begin pranking Hermione. Kendra smiled in delight. "Good. They came through. Now we have all this in addition to the things I brought."

"So you really _have _been planning this for a while." Lavender tapped her forefinger against her mouth while Kendra closed the sack back up. "Did Hermione do something to a friend of yours?"

Kendra put her hands on her hips. "I thought we agreed reasons weren't important. Especially mine."

Lavender considered the little girl standing before her before shrugging. "Fair enough. Here." She pulled out her wand and aimed it steadily at the prank sack. Lavender muttered a spell under her breath and the sack shrank to the size of a beaded bag before their very eyes. She then scooped up the sack and held it out to Kendra. "A little trick I picked up from our mutual friend."

Kendra eyed the shrunken sack, silently took it and stowed it away inside her school robes.

"When do you want to start?" asked Lavender, traces of anticipation becoming prominent in her voice.

"How about when we get back to the Common Room?"

Kendra had said it with such simplicity and calm, that for a moment, Lavender was taken aback. But she shook her head slightly and quickly rebounded. "That's fine with me, but what will we be able to do with quite a few Gryffindors around?"

"Just follow my lead." Kendra glanced down at where she had hidden away the sack in her robes and stared thoughtfully at the spot. "On second thought, _you _should take this." She pulled out the sack and gave it back to Lavender. "It'll be easier that way."

"Are you even going to bother filling me in on the plan?"

"Oh, all right, then."

Kendra motioned for Lavender to bend down so she could whisper her plan into her ear. As Lavender listened, her eyes lit up in amusement and her mouth curved up in a smile of anticipation.

"Now," said Kendra after she had informed Lavender of the spell that was a vital part of the prank, "I trust you know how to do that?"

Lavender nodded, slightly annoyed. "Of course."

"Good. Okay, I'm going to go back to the Common Room. Give me a headstart. It might look suspicious if we both walk in together, wouldn't you say?"

"Good point," Lavender agreed.

"Remember, just pay attention to me and you'll know when to act."

And with that, Kendra calmly began walking down the hallway, making her way back to Gryffindor Tower.

This past week of planning pranks with Lavender to pull on Hermione had indeed made Kendra a bit anxious to get going with everything, but she knew that rushing into something like this without even a small bit of preparation would be rushing things too much. Plus, there was some thrill to be had in the anticipation of the living nightmare Kendra and Lavender were about to make Hermione the star of. As a way of adding insult to injury, Kendra intended to use a few of the spells Hermione had taught her during their private sessions this week against her.

Now, if Hermione's reputation was true, and after spending a week with her Kendra knew it was, she would no doubt try to stop the pranks by going to a teacher or using her influence as Head Girl. However, Kendra and Lavender had already figured out a way or two around that. Plus, the fact that Hermione was Head Girl only added fuel to the fire. If Kendra could prove herself able to successfully prank the Head Girl, and rather continuously at that, then she'd be able to send two messages. One, to the students of Hogwarts, that she was the new prankster to be reckoned with. And the second, this one meant for Hermione and coming from the person who sent Kendra, was that some people never let go of old grudges. This train of thought put a delightfully malicious skip in Kendra's step until she finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Boomslang skin," said Kendra, reciting the current password to Gryffindor Tower.

"Have a nice night, dear?" the Fat Lady asked politely before swinging open.

"Definitely," smiled Kendra as she stepped through the passageway and into the Gryffindor Common Room, which was populated with at least ten students. Kendra spotted Harry and Hermione seated at a table near the staircase leading to the dormitories. Kendra promptly made her way over to them.

Hermione, of course, was busy with homework and Harry was buried in a book of his own: _Quidditch Through The Ages._ When Hermione noticed that there was someone new at her side, she looked up at Kendra and smiled.

"You're back a little late," Hermione said. "Where've you been?"

"Just exploring the castle," Kendra answered in a convincing voice. "There's _a lot _more to this castle than meets the eye!"

Harry glanced up from his book and grinned. "Believe me, there's even more than that. I've been here seven years and there's _still _stuff about Hogwarts that surprises me."

Kendra sat down in the chair between Harry and Hermione. "Where's Ron?" she asked at the same time Lavender entered the Common Room and walked over to a table on the other side. The two of them surreptitiously locked eyes.

"Search me," Harry said in response to Kendra's question.

"No need to," remarked Hermione, who was staring pointedly at the entrance hole.

At that moment, Ron had just emerged from the portrait passageway, looking thoroughly disgruntled. His face was almost as red as his hair as he stormed over to where his friends were.

"What happened to _you_?" inquired Harry, placing a bookmark between his current pages.

'I've got detention tomorrow!" Ron fumed. "On a Saturday! _With Snape!_"

"What?" Hermione completely abandoned her homework. "How'd this happen?"

Ron gestured wildly. "I was just coming back from the bathroom, minding my own business, when suddenly I trip over who-knows-what, and I go flying. Flying, that is, into Snape, who was coming from the opposite direction carrying some sort of potion that went spilling all down his robes. Naturally, he thought I did it on purpose, so he gave me detention."

Hermione looked confused. "Wait, what did you trip over?"

"Damned if _I _know!" snapped Ron. "I thought it might've been a Tripping Jinx, but when I tried to point it out to Snape, there was nothing there. But I'm telling you, I didn't just trip over my own shoelace or anything. There was something there."

Kendra kept a stoic face as Ron recounted his story. Ron happened to be right, as it turned out. Over this first week, Kendra had followed Hermione everywhere and had memorized the routes which she took through the castle. Earlier that day, Kendra and Lavender had, as Ron suspected, cast a Tripping Jinx in one of the hallways Hermione usually walked. Although, it appeared that this particular day, Hermione had opted to go another route. But it didn't matter, Kendra thought to herself, because Hermione was about to get her first taste of Kendra's medicine. And it would be bitter.

"Well, sorry, mate," offered Harry. "Maybe next time you can learn to watch your step or keep your balance."

Ron leaned over towards Harry and gave him a playfully rough shove on the shoulder. "Very funny."

Kendra glanced over at Lavender and gave her a quick nod, signifying that now was the time. Lavender, amidst the other students who were all occupied with either conversations or games of Wizard Chess, nodded back as she subtly reached into her robes.

"Hermione," Kendra said sweetly, "I meant to tell you, the faucet in our bathroom started acting funny when I was in there earlier today. I tried to use a spell you taught me to try and fix it, but it didn't work. Maybe you should take a look at it."

Hermione, who had been about to re-open her History of Magic textbook, halted in mid-action, considered her Mentee, and shrugged. "Sure, I'll see what I can do." She lifted herself from her seat, as did Kendra.

"You can have my seat, Ron," Kendra told him before she followed Hermione into their private dorm.

"Oh, er, thanks, Kendra," Ron called after her as he plopped himself down heavily in the middle chair. "Bloody Snape," he muttered vindictively. "I'd like to shave all that greasy hair off his ruddy head!"

Just then, someone bumped into Hermione's empty chair. Harry and Ron looked up to see that it was Lavender, who was clutching the chair's back for support.

"You okay?" Harry asked genuinely.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Lavender as she straightened both her posture and her robes. She directed her gaze towards Ron. "By the way, Ron, I couldn't help but overhear. Sorry about the detention." Lavender delivered these words in a gentle, compassionate tone, much like how a girlfriend would console her boyfriend after a tough day.

All Ron said, without even looking at Lavender, was a gruff "Thanks," before he pulled Harry's Quidditch book in front of him.

Lavender's gaze lingered on Ron. "Well, see you later…Harry."

Harry, a confused expression on his face, gave Lavender a simple wave as she walked away from them. As she did, though, Harry couldn't help but notice that the brief exchange with Lavender seemed rather odd.

"I'll teach you that Anti-Blocking Spell later." Hermione and Kendra returned from their dorm. "It's rather easy to learn."

"Okay," replied Kendra. "That sounds great."

Hermione went back over to her chair, staring suspiciously over at Lavender. "I saw her leave here. What did she want?"

Ron sighed. "My guess is she's trying to catch my interest again." He gave a brief snort. "As if. Like I would ever want to subject myself to being that loony's teddy bear again."

Hermione grinned as she positioned herself over the chair and began to lower herself into it. Kendra quickly caught Lavender watching Hermione out of the corner of her eye, and she herself focused on Hermione eagerly. "I thought it was Won-Won. Some people can just never let go, can they?"

Hermione finally made contact with the chair, and that's when it happened. The instant Hermione's butt made contact with the hard surface, a loud expulsion of noise emanated from the chair, loud enough to catch the attention of everybody in the Common Room. It sounded like a big fart.

Many of the Gryffindors, Lavender included, laughed and sniggered at this. Kendra did her best to both not laugh and keep a triumphant smile off of her face. Hermione, meanwhile, wore an expression that was somewhere between embarrassed and shocked.

"Did we…eat a bit too much tonight, Hermione?" asked Ron, sniggers creeping into his voice. He and Harry did their best to keep their faces as sympathetic as possible.

As Hermione continued to sit there in surprise, she felt something wet start to spread across her backside. "What the…?"

She stood up and rubbed the part of her robes directly over her rear end and felt that it was indeed wet to the touch. This elicited more giggles from the onlookers. Hermione examined her chair with inquisitive eyes and pulled out her wand.

"_Revealio_."

The spell revealed something in Hermione's chair, all right. It was rounded and rubbery, colored deep pink and had four words which shined with moisture: "_Weasleys' Wet Whoopee Cushion_."

Hermione gritted her teeth and scooped up the whoopee cushion. Water leaked from it as she did. She showed it to Harry and Ron.

Ron held up his hands innocently. "Hey, don't look at us. Why would we want to do that?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed and she whirled around to where Lavender was…only to discover that she wasn't there anymore.

"It seems Lavender doesn't take kindly to having her judgment insulted," remarked Harry. "_That's _why she came over here, to put that in your chair."

"That makes two times in one week," said Ron. "Bloody hell, Hermione, she must really have it out for you."

Hermione was now staring at the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories. "Let her pull her pranks," she fumed. "Because the next time she does and I get proof of it, she'll be regretting this while serving detention!" She tossed the whoopee cushion into a wastebucket nearby and gathered up her books off the table. "I think I'll turn in early tonight," she told Harry, Ron and Kendra. "See you in the morning."

Hermione, the wet feeling on her butt seeping through her robes and clothes, stormed off to her dorm and shut the door behind her.

Kendra shared a concerned look with Harry and Ron, but really, she was feeling exuberant inside.

And so it begins.

* * *

Hermione had eventually calmed down from the whoopee cushion prank, enough so that she could get to sleep that night without too much trouble. She woke up the next morning to see that Kendra was still asleep, so Hermione checked her watch for the time: nine-thirty.

Most students were usually up by now anyway, so Hermione threw back her covers and silently walked over her dresser to retrieve regular clothes for the day, then over to the bathroom. She closed the door carefully so as to not wake Kendra, took off her pajamas and stepped into the shower.

Once she was all, done, dressed and groomed, Hermione exited the bathroom and re-entered her dorm. Kendra was still sleeping, but hey, it was the weekend. Hermione decided to let Kendra wake up on her own and strolled over to the door and opened it.

Hermione wasn't two steps out of her room when the purple slime assaulted her from above, behind, and in front. Within seconds, she was completely coated in the substance, but there was no one in the Common Room to hear her frustrated grunt.

But it seemed Kendra did, because her voice caused Hermione to turn around.

"Oh my!"

Kendra, being the skilled actress she was, managed to pull off a look of astonishment upon seeing Hermione covered from head to toe in purple goo.

"Lavender!" Hermione spat vehemently. "I'm going to _kill _her!"

But of course, it wasn't Lavender who set up the trap. Kendra had woken up a little while earlier, when she was sure all of the other Gryffindors had gone down to breakfast so nobody else would notice it, and rigged this slime attack for Hermione. And from the looks of it, everything had gone off without a hitch.

It was only an indication of things to come for the day.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Kendra and Hermione, who was now slime-free and wearing a different set of clothes, entered the Great Hall side-by-side. The House tables weren't as full as they normally were, seeing as it was a Saturday and most of the students were either scattered about the castle or outside enjoying the bright weather. But there were still quite a few students sitting at their respective tables, most of them finishing up a late breakfast, much like Harry and Ron. Kendra and Hermione made a beeline for the two boys when suddenly, Kendra spotted her fellow first year friends Katie and Tara sitting at the far end of the table. Katie eagerly waved to Kendra, the gesture serving as an invitation. Upon seeing the two girls, an idea suddenly popped into Kendra's mind.

She turned to Hermione. "Mind if I go sit with my other friends?" Kendra asked politely.

Hermione glanced briefly at Katie and Tara, smiled and shook her head. "Not at all, go right ahead."

Kendra departed Hermione's company to walk the length of the Gryffindor Table as Hermione situated herself beside Harry, who scooted slightly to the right out of reflex to make room for her. Ron was sitting on the opposite side.

"Morning, Hermione," Harry greeted, rather chipper in doing so.

"'or-ig, er-mi-on," was all Ron managed to get out through a mouth stuffed with scrambled eggs, toast and a fruit tart. Some of the frosting from the fruit tart encircled his lips like a halo.

Hermione said nothing as she loaded up a plate of her own. Harry, meanwhile, seemed to be channeling Hermione's disgust for her, because he was staring at Ron with his mouth agape.

"Um, Ron," he said, "you've got a little something in this area." He put his hand up in front of his own mouth and made small circles to indicate where the frosting was.

Ron swallowed his food with a big gulp. "Sorry." He picked up a napkin and wiped off the frosting.

Harry, though, noticed that Hermione was still remaining silently as she passively ate her eggs. "Hermione, is something wrong?" he asked with concern.

Hermione looked at Harry with eyes that spoke her words for her.

"Another prank?" said Ron from across the table. When Hermione nodded, he pressed on. "What happened this time?"

Hermione sighed and put down her fork. "Well, let's just say I had a very _interesting _wake-up call today. You know what was waiting for me when I first tried to come down here about half an hour ago? A shower of purple slime." At this, Harry and Ron shared a brief look with each other. "And Scourgify couldn't get rid of it, so I had to take another shower." Hermione gazed up and down the table, searching for any sign of Lavender, but ultimately finding none. "It looks like the culprit is too afraid to show her face and claim responsibility. It doesn't matter, because I took twenty points from Gryffindor for her little stunt."

"You think it was Lavender again?" said Harry.

"Of course!" Hermione lowered her voice to an intense whisper. "I mean, it was _her_ who put that whoopee cushion in my chair last night, so who else could it have been? Plus, she knows about the private dorm I share with Kendra."

Harry, his right elbow positioned at an angle on the table so he could tap his forefinger to his lip, cleared his throat with a hesitant expression on his face. "Possibly. "

Hermione narrowed her eyes and turned to fully face Harry. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Harry sighed. "Come on, Hermione. You're the one who thinks logically, so maybe you should be considering the fact that Lavender _might _be right about Kendra. I mean, yes, Lavender was obviously behind the whoopee cushion prank, but if you remember correctly, Kendra _did _take you away right before Lavender came over to set it up. It just seems like a strange coincidence."

"And you came up with this theory all on your own, did you, Harry?" Hermione inclined her head to fix Ron with one of her most penetrating stares. Ron slightly squirmed at this, his face subtly contorting into an uncomfortable grimace. "Ron…?" Hermione asked pointedly.

Ron shook his head in defeat. "All right, Harry and I were discussing this before you came down. I mean, Hermione, don't you think it's a bit odd that all this stuff happens to you after Lavender warns you about Kendra? We had our thoughts, which was turned into a full-fledged theory after hearing about you getting slimed."

"Let me give you my _logical _thoughts about the situation." Hermione alternated her glare between Harry and Ron before continuing. "These pranks are being pulled on me _by Lavender _because not only is she angry at me for putting her down earlier this week, but also because she thinks I'm the reason you broke up with her last year." This last sentence she directed toward Ron. "There. Logical enough for you?" Hermione took a few more bites of her eggs before speaking again. "By the way, I need to have a talk with Fred and George about who they sell their products to."

"It's not their fault," Ron said defensively. "That Wet Whoopee Cushion is one of their hottest sellers."

Hermione scoffed. "I think the people who've sat on them would sing a different tune."

"Oy!" snapped Ron. "Don't take your frustration over your soaked butt out on them! It's not like they knew it would be used on _you_!"

Harry cleared his throat loudly to avoid this turning into another heated argument between his two friends. "So, Hermione, you're saying you don't think it's at all possible that Kendra was involved in the pranks?"

"Why would she be?" Hermione inquired plainly. "From all the time I've spent with her so far, I can tell that she really likes me."

"I hate Hermione!" Kendra said just seconds later down at the other end of the table. She was leaning in close toward Katie and Tara. "She's _awful!_"

"Really?" Tara said in surprise as she stole a brief glance at Hermione. "I've heard from other students that she's supposed to be nice."

"Yeah, _supposed to be_," Kendra muttered sarcastically. "Her being all sweet, that's just an act; believe me, I know. She becomes very mean and bossy when we're alone, _especially_ during our Mentor Sessions together."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "What does she do?"

Kendra inwardly grinned to herself, but kept her voice miserable. "When she teaches me spells and I don't get it right, she yells at me and calls me stupid and insults me in other ways. The other day, when I messed up by accident on a spell, she called me dumb and said I'd never be a good witch." Kendra recited the lie as convincingly as a seasoned Muggle actor would have. "She also said she couldn't see how I was worthy to be at Hogwarts. And that was before she twenty points away from our House this morning for no reason." She left out the part about the purple slime.

By now, Katie and Tara were staring at their friend in shock. "_What?_" they eventually chorused.

"She actually _said _that?" Tara was astonished.

"Yes," Kendra fibbed again. Admittedly, she did feel somewhat conflicted about bringing Katie and Tara into this, therefore risking them getting in trouble, but Kendra had a mission and she was determined to do anything to accomplish it, even if it meant lying to people she called friends.

"Merlin's Beard, Kendra, we're sorry," Katie said sympathetically. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"

Kendra reigned in her satisfaction, making sure not to let it be too obvious. "Well…" she began hesitantly. "No. No, forget it."

"Come on," Tara encouraged. "What is it?"

Kendra shook her head. "Nothing. I don't want you two to get caught."

"Hey," Katie spoke up with a steel-like firmness in her voice. She glared down at where Hermione sat. "If it means teaching that _flobberworm _a lesson, we're okay with it. After all, it sounds like she's abusing her duties as Head Girl."

Kendra paused long enough to convince the girls that it was a thoughtful bit of hesitation. "All right. You see, I want to get Hermione back for her meanness. So, yesterday, I came up with the idea of pulling pranks on her until she gets the message. Actually," Kendra shot a quick glance toward Harry, "I think we should get Harry, too, because I don't think I like him either. But Ron is pretty cool."

"Oooooooh!" said Tara with great interest. "I like that idea! I've done it a few times to my older sister back at home."

"Yeah," agreed Katie. "It seems Hermione deserves it. Oh, by the way, Kendra…" Katie reached into her pocket for something and produced a small slip of paper. "That girl named Lavender gave us this to give to you."

Kendra took the paper and unfolded it. Her eyes lit up once she read what was scribbled on it, and she looked up at her fiends while smiling widely.

"What is it?"

"A gold mine, so to speak." Kendra stuffed the paper in her own pocket and leaned in close. "Now, this morning, I came up with a way we can get Hermione." She then proceeded to tell Katie and Tara her plan.

Back down the table, Hermione had finished her breakfast. "So…any specific plans for the day?" she asked.

"Well," Ron scoffed in annoyance, "in case you forgot, _I _have detention with Snape most of the day." He glanced at his watch. "And that should begin any minute. So unless I want to cost Gryffindor more House points for the day, I'd better get going." Ron stood up with reluctance in his movements. "I'll see you two…whenever." Ron exited the Great Hall not quite in the same fashion as a prisoner walking to the gallows, but in a manner pretty close to it nonetheless.

Harry and Hermione watched him until he had disappeared behind the entrance.

"That just leaves you and me, I guess," Hermione said to Harry, straightening her green shirt over her faded black jeans as she and Harry stood up.

"And me!" Kendra exclaimed as she walked up behind them. "Hey, listen, my friends Katie and Tara just told me about this game. It's sort of like the Muggle game called Tag, only with a slight twist. If it's okay with you two, I'd like to play it! We can do it out on the grounds!"

Hermione curiously looked over to where Katie and Tara were sitting. They were engaged in deep conversation with each other, paying no notice to Kendra. If they had been staring intently after her, that would've made Hermione a bit concerned as well as briefly consider Harry and Ron's point. But Hermione brushed it off and nodded.

"Sure, let's have some fun! Harry?"

"Yeah," agreed Harry. "Why not?"

* * *

The name of the game, as it turned out, was Aurors. And just like Kendra said, it was similar to Tag, in that the setup was this: depending on how many people played, at least one player would assume the role of Auror and another would be portraying a Dark Wizard. The object of the game was that the Auror basically had to "capture" the Dark Wizard, and the game ended once the suspect had been taken to "prison." For this particular game, Kendra was the Auror and Harry and Hermione had been made the Dark Wizards.

Before they started playing, Hermione had taught Kendra a little spell she could use that would signify that she and Harry had been caught. The spell in question bound together a person's arms or legs without the use of rope or any other types of cords. In the case of the game, it would serve as invisible handcuffs.

It was fifteen minutes into the game, and Kendra was still pursuing Harry and Hermione across the grassy grounds of Hogwarts. There were a few other students scattered about here and there, but none close enough to disturb the game. Kendra was currently crouched behind a bush, patiently waiting for one of her prey to cross her path. She didn't have to wait long, though, because Harry ran across her line of vision just then, keeping an eye out for his pursuer.

Kendra waited until Harry came to the spot where she wanted him to be before confidently aiming her wand at him and muttering the spell. As expected, Harry's arms suddenly jerked behind him against his back, but his arms weren't the only things to do so. In addition, his legs locked together (as per Kendra's intention), and Harry's leftover momentum from running sent him tumbling right where Kendra wanted him to go…into the puddle of mud in front of him.

Harry fell into the mud with a discernible splat, which was Kendra's cue. She ran out from behind the bush and over to Harry.

"Sorry!" she yelled convincingly as she reached Harry. "I must have put too much into that spell." Kendra waved her wand, and Harry's arms and legs snapped back into freedom.

Harry hauled himself out of the mud; he looked a right mess. "It's okay," he said as he pulled out his own wand. But really, he was wondering why his legs had stuck together too. "Nothing that a bit of magic can't fix. _Scourgify!_" The mud evaporated off of Harry. "There, see?" He looked around. "Did you get Hermione yet?"

"No, I-"

Kendra was cut off by a shrill scream that both she and Harry recognized as Hermione's. They immediately raced in the direction it had come from.

What they eventually found made Kendra silently celebrate.

Hermione was hanging upside down under a tree, her left leg suspended in a rope connected to one of the higher branches. Not only that, but miniature, tennis ball-sized balls of mud were pelting her all over her body as Hermione held up her arms to try to shield herself. Where the mud balls were coming from exactly was a mystery to the naked eye, but Kendra knew the source.

Conjuring up a Shield Charm, Harry raced over to his best friend. The Shield Charm did its job by blocking the balls from hitting Hermione anymore, and Harry cut the rope and carefully caught her in his arms. Once he did, the mud balls stopped coming their way.

Kendra went over to Harry and Hermione, who was attempting to rid her clothes of the numerous brown stains.

"Scourgify isn't working on _this _either!" she complained.

"Did you see who was doing it?" asked Harry as he scanned their surroundings.

"No!" exclaimed Hermione. "One minute, I was just walking around, still playing the game when suddenly, I'm hanging upside down from this tree and being hit with all this mud." She huffed angrily. "The fact that the mud isn't going away by magic tells me something. That whoever set up this little trap is the same person behind the slime this morning."

Harry glanced briefly and suspiciously down at Kendra. Was it possible that she had set up the trap while the game had been going on? But then, a logical thought entered his mind, and it was one he had to voice.

"If you didn't see who was throwing the mud balls at you, then you don't have any proof that it was somebody like, say, Lavender."

Hermione looked like she was searching for a way she _could_ pin it on Lavender, but finding none, she eventually sighed in defeat. "You're right, Harry. At least with the slime prank, I knew it had to be a Gryffindor. Do you have your Invisibility Cloak on you?"

Harry looked slightly confused. "What?"

"I have to get back up to the showers to clean myself up, and I'd much rather prefer not to put up with all the comments on the way."

Harry rubbed his neck. "Er, actually Hermione, this is one of the few times where I _don't _have it on me." Upon seeing Hermione's worrisome expression, he quickly added, "But I'll walk up with you. And if anybody makes fun of your appearance, then I'll hex them."

Hermione managed a grin and gratefully slipped her fingers, which were all muddy, into Harry's. "Thanks."

Kendra gave herself a silent reminder to congratulate Katie and Tara on a job well done later as she accompanied Harry and Hermione into the castle.

* * *

The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday passed without incident from Kendra, as she wanted to lure Hermione into a false sense of security. But just the same, Hermione had become extra cautious during her daily routine, constantly double-checking areas of rooms for any possible traps.

But by her Mentor Session with Kendra on Monday, Hermione had relaxed just a little and wasn't so obsessed with opening a door and waiting five seconds before walking through it. However, Kendra had chosen today's Mentor Session as the time to reveal to Hermione her true colors and intentions. It was the perfect time to, as far as Kendra could tell, because after all, they were alone together in their dorm and Kendra could do whatever she wanted.

Kendra had waited it out long enough.

She and Hermione had just finished their session for the day. They had progressed to a few more school policies, as well as Stunning Spells, and that was where Kendra intended to start.

Hermione currently had her back to Kendra, so she didn't see her Mentee confidently raise her wand with an evil smile on her face.

"Maybe tomorrow we'll practice levitation some more," said Hermione, completely oblivious. "You seem to have that down quite well, but a bit more practice never hurt anyb-"

"_Stupefy!"_

A red flash of light hit Hermione, who immediately fell stiffly backwards on a rug. Twisting her wand delightedly in her hands, Kendra walked over so she was standing directly over Hermione's face.

"What can I say? You should've listened to Lavender."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. It was the only movement she was capable of at the moment.

"Oh," continued Kendra with a business-like tone, "if you're asking yourself why, don't worry. It's not like I randomly chose you out of everybody else. No, I'll be doing this kind of stuff to you all year because, well, based on the claims of the person who sent me, you deserve it. And I think I'll leave it up to you to work out why that is. After all, _you're _the smart one." Kendra looked up and down Hermione's immobile form, grinning. "Now, I've taken a page out of your book, so to speak, and have been doing a bit of light reading. Let's see if this works."

Hermione widened her eyes even more.

Kendra pointed her wand at Hermione, said an incantation and seconds later, with a loud pop, Hermione's clothes had been replaced with a red tank top and very short golden running shorts. Her regular clothes were now in Kendra's arms.

"Perfect."

Next, Kendra conjured up the other items she needed and went to work.

* * *

"I'm just concerned, that's all," said Harry as he and Ron walked into the Gryffindor Common Room. "She wasn't at dinner, and neither was Kendra."

"Who are you guys talking about?" asked Ginny, who was occupying one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace while doing her homework. "Hermione?"

"Yeah," said Ron as he and Harry plopped themselves down onto the couch. "We haven't seen her or Kendra all afternoon. Not since…"

He trailed off and Ron's face slackened in realization. Ron turned to see that Harry had the same look on his face, and as one, both boys inclined their heads to stare at the closed door of Hermione's and Kendra's private dorm.

They, along with Ginny, jumped up and ran over to the door. They found the secret doorjamb in the wall, pushed on it, and rushed inside. What they saw when they did made them stop and stare in disbelief.

Hermione was indeed in the dorm, but not in the way one would expect. First of all, she was tied up and hanging from the ceiling like a piñata. Then, she was wearing nothing but a red tank top and very short golden shorts, which matched the paint that streaked across her body. Her left side was gold while her right was red. On top of all that, a lion's mane had been attached to her head and a sign dangled from her neck, which read "Talk About Gryffindor Pride!"

When Hermione saw her three friends, she made frantic noses through the gag over her mouth.

Harry, Ron and Ginny wasted no time in safely getting Hermione down.

Once they had, Harry removed her gag and asked, still stunned, "What happened?"

Hermione, who was seething heavily, only uttered one word.

"_Kendra!_"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Here's Chapter 5.**

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* * *

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**CHAPTER FIVE**

Nobody from McGonagall's sixth year Transfiguration class paid Hermione any particular attention as they all filed out of the classroom mere seconds after the bell had rung, signaling the end of class. They also apparently weren't aware that Hermione didn't even have Transfiguration as her next class, but enough students in Hogwarts knew Hermione's reputation well, so Hermione figured they probably thought she wished to speak with Professor McGonagall about something such as grades. That assumption was only half-true.

Hermione stood to the left of the door, patiently waiting for the entryway to clear. Once it had, she stepped inside. Had Hermione waited just a few seconds more, she probably would have noticed Kendra step out from behind a nearby statue, her gaze fixed heatedly and levelly at where Hermione had just gone. Quietly, Kendra sneaked up to beside the doorframe so she could listen in on Hermione's conversation with McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was sitting behind her desk, moving her quill across an essay on Anamagi as an eraser and a piece of chalk worked magically to the left of the desk to prepare the assignment for the next class. Hermione calmly strode up to the head of the class in the center pathway located between each row of desks. When McGonagall noticed that the sound of shoes on stone had joined that of chalk working its way across a blackboard, McGonagall looked up and slightly raised her eyebrows when she saw who had walked in.

"Miss Granger." McGonagall replaced her quill in an ink bottle to the right of her. "What may I do for you? Do you wish to discuss something? Perhaps an issue concerning a recent assignment of yours?"

Hermione pulled up a stool from a desk and sat down in front of McGonagall's. "Well, Professor, I do have something I want to talk to you about, but it doesn't have anything to do with class assignments."

This seemed to capture McGonagall's attention even more, because she sat up straighter and crossed her fingers in front of her. "Then what _does _it concern, Miss Granger?"

"The Mentor Program," Hermione answered. "But more importantly, it's about my Mentee, Kendra, and some problems I'm having with her."

From her hidden position by the door, Kendra straightened up as she leaned her head in closer to hear the conversation better.

"I see," said McGonagall. "And what sort of problems are the two of you experiencing?"

Hermione cleared her throat and fidgeted on the stool a bit as she became slightly uncomfortable about having to divulge these specific details. "Well…for the past week, Kendra has been pulling rather humiliating pranks on me."

At these words, Kendra, unseen by either Hermione or McGonagall, clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. Hermione was going to pay for going to McGonagall about this.

McGonagall's reaction, though, was more subdued. "You have proof of this?"

"I do. At least…I have proof for one of them." Hermione launched into recounting the pranks that had been pulled on her, starting with the "Zap Me" sign and ending with being made into a reluctant Gryffindor mascot. When she finished, Hermione took a moment to observe McGonagall's face, which was neutral, to say the least. "The reason I'm telling you all this, Professor, is obviously so you can punish Kendra."

If Hermione had known that Kendra was outside the classroom, those words would have never left her mouth, much less flowed through her head.

"And what is it you believe I can do about this that you can't, Miss Granger?" Upon seeing Hermione's confused expression at this, McGonagall clarified further. "You _are _Head Girl, are you not? In addition, you also happen to be Miss Banks' Mentor. So what's preventing you from issuing the necessary discipline yourself?"

This caught Hermione off-guard, and she worked quickly to recompose herself. "Well, uh, I just thought with you being a Professor, as well as Deputy Headmistress, that you'd be able to give out a punishment more suitable than deducted House points."

McGonagall placed her hands together in a steeple as she finally supplied Hermione with an expression that could be defined as sympathetic. "Miss Granger, you're unaware of this, but one of the rules, as it were, of The Mentor Program is that faculty must let the Mentors and Mentees sort out any problems they may have on their own…without adult supervision. It sounds callous, yes, but that's the way it is."

"But…but…" Hermione sputtered, her face slack with utter disbelief at the statement. Kendra's face, meanwhile, was glowing with malicious triumph.

_Oh, how glad am I that I signed up for this program? _Kendra gleefully thought to herself.

"So," said Hermione while she rubbed her forehead in attempt to stop an oncoming headache, "you're saying you can't do anything? Or rather, you're not _allowed _to do anything?"

"I'm afraid so, Miss Granger," McGonagall answered plainly. "But if the problem persists, I trust you'll take the appropriate actions?"

Hermione nearly scoffed, but was able to restrain herself…just barely. "With all due respect, Professor, I'm trying to figure out what the appropriate actions would be."

"That's for you to decide," said McGonagall. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. Now, if you'll excuse me, Miss Granger, I have a class of third years coming in a few minutes."

Hermione blinked a few times before nodding, standing up and replacing the stool. She neither looked back nor said anything else to McGonagall as she made her way out of the classroom, still not believing that she had just failed to get the help of a teacher. And by the time Hermione had exited the classroom, there was no sign at all that Kendra had been eavesdropping just moments before.

Nor was there any indication that Kendra had hurried off to the Library to meet up with Lavender, in light of Hermione having just made things worse for herself.

* * *

Kendra hurried as fast as she could, or at least, as fast as was allowed in the Library towards Lavender. At any rate, Kendra slowed down slightly upon receiving a few curious stares from a few studying students, but more importantly, the extremely strict Librarian, Madame Pince. Lavender was seated over in a far corner of the Library, hunched over a thick and weathered book that was opened to its middle pages. Not caring if they were seen together in public, Kendra sat herself in one of the chairs of Lavender's table, causing Lavender to look up from her book.

"We need to talk," said Kendra in a tone of voice suitable for the Library.

Lavender narrowed her eyes while glancing around at the other students. "About what?" she asked in an equally conspiratorial tone.

"It seems Hermione has got it in her head that she thinks she can rat us out to the Professors," replied Kendra while she opened her book sack and began rummaging around inside it. "Which means, we have to step up our game." She produced a rather large book of her own and placed it in front of her.

The book in question was much like a textbook, with yellowed pages and a leather binding that held together a great amount of paper between the front and back covers. However, the cover was significantly different than your average book cover. First of all, instead of being one solid color, this cover was made up of a colorful spectrum, from purple to green to red. Its title was displayed in bold blue letters: "_THE PRANKSTER'S GUIDE: COUNTLESS PRANKS TO PULL ON THE PERFECT VICTIMS." _

"So let's consult the Guide, shall we?" smiled Kendra as she opened the book up to a random page. "By the way, I never thanked you for finding this for me…well, for _us_," she said as she remembered the piece of paper Kendra's friends had given her back on Saturday morning.

Lavender straightened up proudly at the compliment. "You're welcome. Actually, we should also be thanking Fred and George Weasley, because they told me where to locate it."

Before they said anything else, Kendra used her wand to subtly cast a Silencing Charm around their table so that the following conversation wouldn't reach any unwanted ears. Kendra had waited a week to reveal herself to Hermione partly because she had wanted to milk Hermione for as many useful spells as she could…like this one.

Kendra nodded. "All right, Hermione needs to realize that she can't mess with us, so our next few pranks should communicate that for us. You should write some of these down." Lavender prepared her quill for just such a thing as Kendra skimmed through the text in front of her, which listed various pranks ripe for pulling. "Let's see…oh, this one sounds good: a Butt-Enlargement Charm! Imagine Hermione with a butt the size of two watermelons!" Kendra giggled at the thought, and Lavender allowed herself a chuckle as well. "Or, there's a ton more butt-related pranks here, like one where you can stick something messy like glue or slime to the victim's butt and it won't come off until you say a reversal spell." Kendra looked up at Lavender. "You know what? Just note that we should do a prank involving Hermione's butt in general. After all, that's one of the most embarrassing body parts you can do something to."

Lavender made the notation on a blank piece of parchment. "What, zapping it wasn't enough?" Her mouth slightly curved up.

"No," Kendra said simply. "Pranksters know no mercy, especially in circumstances such as these." Kendra reoccupied herself with the book. "Then there's a Prank Wand. What it says here is that you replace a person's real wand with one of these, and whenever the victim tries to cast any type of spell, the Prank Wand will somehow do something to the caster; something humiliating. They're available at Zonko's Joke Shop."

"Got it," said Lavender as she continued to write. "But that one may have to wait, because Zonko's is in Hogsmeade, and our first Hogsmeade trip isn't until next month…October. What else is in there?"

"Things like makeshift voodoo dolls and other objects," informed Kendra upon flipping through a few more pages. "Mostly items that we'll have to wait until Hogsmeade to get." Kendra closed The Prankster's Guide and sighed. "But until then, we need a way to make sure Hermione won't go blabbing on us to any other professors." Just then, a lightbulb clicked inside Kendra's head, and a thought came to her, clear as day. "And I just figured out what that way will be."

"What?"

"Blackmail."

Lavender smiled wickedly at this. "I like it! It's simple, and yet, it's effective. But like you said, it has to be big enough that it'll shut Hermione up for good." At that moment, the reason behind Kendra's motivation for blackmail finally sunk in. "Wait, did she go to a teacher already?"

"Yes. She told Professor McGonagall a few minutes ago. I overheard them talking. Fortunately, McGonagall wasn't able to do anything. But by doing that, Hermione just made matters worse for herself."

A thoughtful silence passed between Kendra and Lavender, which Kendra finally broke by saying, "So do you have anything specific in mind?"

Kendra racked her brain for an idea until one presented itself, and it was one that filled Kendra with evil eagerness. "Oh, yes!" she exclaimed as she spotted Colin Creevey walk into the Library just then.

* * *

"You want to do what?" asked Harry as he and Hermione sat on the couch in front of the crackling fireplace of the Gryffindor Common Room later that night. Ron was upstairs in his dormitory, engaged in a game of Exploding Snap with Dean and Seamus.

"Look through Wizard Family Blood Records," Hermione said simply, repeating herself for the third time since revealing her plan to Harry. The idea had come to her earlier that day, and randomly at that – much like most of Hermione's ideas. "It makes perfect sense, Harry. I know for a fact that the Library here at Hogwarts has them, and that they show the bloodlines of almost every Wizarding family there is. So since I need to find out exactly who Kendra is in order to work out why she's so intent on tormenting me, that's the best way to do it." Hermione leaned back in satisfaction on the couch.

Harry, meanwhile, was still staring at his best friend with a look of slight bewilderment. "And you're, er, sure that these records are in the Library?"

"Of course. It was mentioned in _Hogwarts: A History_, so it must be true." Hermione shot Harry an expression somewhere between annoyance and realization. "You know, Harry, you'd be more aware of these types of things if you ever actually _opened _that book."

Harry returned Hermione's gaze. "I've opened it. Once or twice…but actually reading what was on those pages is a different story altogether."

Hermione smiled and playfully punched Harry on the arm, which elicited some chuckles from the two of them. When the two of them stopped laughing, Hermione got back to business. "But seriously, Harry. Don't you want to know what Kendra's story is?"

"Believe me, Hermione, I'm just as curious as you are. And if you think this is the best option, then I'll take your word for it. After all, researching in the Library is one of the things you do best." This made Hermione smile once again. "I just can't believe McGonagall flat out refused to help you."

"She said Professors aren't allowed to interfere in The Mentor Program," sighed Hermione. "Apparently, it's supposed to help shape the Mentors as well as the Mentees."

"I guess they never took into account the possibility of one of the Mentees being a relentless prankster," commented Harry.

That was where Harry and Hermione's conversation ended, because just then, Tara came barreling down the steps leading to and from the Girls' Dormitories. Tara spotted Harry and Hermione on the couch and immediately dashed over.

"Hermione!" Tara exclaimed, slightly winded. "You need to come upstairs! Ginny needs your help with something. And it's something…personal." Tara looked at Harry as she said that last part, to emphasize the fact that the issue was more girl-concerned. "She said she wanted you specifically."

At the beginning of term, Ginny had moved into Hermione's old dormitory since Hermione had been forced to share a room with Kendra. So Hermione assumed it was that room that Tara was saying she go to.

Hermione stood up. "Um, all right." She faced Harry. "I'll be right back."

Harry nodded as Tara tugged on Hermione's arm and guided her up the stairs to Hermione's old dormitory. Along the way, Hermione wondered what exactly was wrong with Ginny that it would make her want Hermione's help above anybody else's. Then again, Ginny _did _consider Hermione a very close friend of the same gender.

When Hermione and Tara reached the door to the room, they rushed through the open doorway rather quickly. But it didn't take long for Hermione to figure out what was wrong with all of this.

For starters, Ginny was nowhere to be seen in the dormitory. Second, the fact that Tara ominously shut and cast a Silencing Charm on the door after they got in tipped Hermione off even more. Hermione turned towards Tara during this action, and once Hermione saw the wicked smile on Tara's face, her stomach began to twist in knots.

Hermione whirled around to discover that three other people had come out of various hiding places: Katie, Kendra and Lavender. If there had been just a tiny seed of doubt in Hermione's mind that this was a trap for another prank, then that seed had just been plucked from the soil. All four of the other girls began approaching Hermione methodically.

Hermione gulped.

At least she now knew to keep her eye on Katie and Tara as well.

"Are you going to beat me up or something?" Hermione asked in as brave a voice as she could muster. "Is that why you put a Silencing Charm on the door?"

"Good guess," said Lavender in a sweet tone that would've made Umbridge proud. "But no."

"Do you honestly think that you can go to a teacher to try and tell on us and there won't be any consequences?" Kendra asked in a very accusing voice. When she saw the surprised expression on Hermione's face, Kendra nodded. "Yes, I overheard you earlier today. But going to Professor McGonagall was a big mistake on your part. In fact, because of that, you just dug yourself into a deeper hole."

"We need you to know that we're _always _in control here," continued Lavender.

Hermione looked around nervously at the girls, all of whom had stopped in their tracks but were still leering menacingly at her. "I—I think I get the point."

"I don't think you do," spat Lavender as they all resumed closing in on their prey. "You won't get the point until we actually make it."

Without warning, the three First Years pounced on Hermione and pulled her to the ground.

Lavender watched with malicious pleasure as the three young girls slid a gag over Hermione's mouth as the Head Girl struggled furiously. "You know what to do next," Lavender ordered after that part was done. "Strip her down."

Kendra, Katie and Tara did just that, undoing the zippers and buttons on Hermione's clothes until Hermione was wearing nothing but her bra and panties. Kendra handed Lavender Hermione's clothes, which Lavender shrunk and stowed away in the pockets of her robes.

The three eleven year-olds then took Hermione, who was now rigid with shock, and lifted her up next to one of the bedposts of one of the four-posters in the room. Lavender handed Kendra a couple lengths of rope, which Kendra and her two compatriots used to bind Hermione's hands and feet to the bedpost.

But that wasn't all.

Once that was done, Kendra took Colin Creevey's camera (which she had been able to convince Colin to lend her under the pretense of a personal project) and snapped a few pictures of Hermione's underwear-clad state from various angles.

"There," she said to Hermione triumphantly. "Now, as long as you keep our little conflict a secret, I'll do the same with these pictures." Kendra tucked the camera under her arm. "I wish I could be here to see the reaction of the next girl who walks in here and sees you like this, but I've got homework to do."

As Hermione gave Kendra a death glare, Kendra and her associates happily marched out of the dormitory after unlocking the door.

* * *

"Hey, Harry!" Ginny greeted warmly as she strolled into the Common Room at that exact moment. "What's up?"

Harry looked at Ginny, and immediately, his face fell. "Ginny. Wh-wh-what are you doing here?"

"What're you on about?" asked Ginny as she took Hermione's vacated spot.

"You're supposed to be up…" Harry jerked his head around in time to see Kendra, Lavender, Katie and Tara emerge from the Girls' Dormitory staircase.

Ginny followed Harry's gaze and she caught on. "Uh oh. Did something else happen to Hermione?"

The smirk Kendra gave Harry as she walked by the couch confirmed Harry and Ginny's suspicion. "So it would seem. Go up to your dormitory and check to see if Hermione's all right."

Ginny nodded and did just that.

Harry would ultimately be unprepared to hear what had happened to Hermione. However, he _would _be prepared for the proclamation that things had just been taken to the next level.


End file.
